The Tannadice boss added Michael Gardyne and Mark Millar to his squad this summer after the pair battled back to the SPL after being released by Celtic as teenagers.

It’s a strategy that has served United well in recent seasons as a stream of players have taken the step up in their stride.

Gardyne’s arrival from Ross County and Millar’s move from Falkirk are key parts of Houston’s rebuilding and he insists United have bucked the trend by persuading players not to flee south of the border.

Houston said: “If you come out of a lower league you always have something to prove, like Morgaro Gomis and Craig Conway in the past or Gary Mackay-Steven who was with Airdrie in the Second Division.

“Gardyne and Millar both left Celtic and were brave enough to take a step down to get one back up again.

“They could have sat and taken a wage at Celtic Park but the important thing from their point of view is they wanted to play.

“They now have to prove to me they are good enough to play week in, week out in the SPL and I’m sure they will.

“Mark had an opportunity to join Blackpool and other teams such as Preston. I think Kilmarnock were also interested but he chose United and that says everything for me.

“Players look at how well we’ve done and that we’re not frightened to play young lads or boys who came out of the lower divisions. They may not play consistently well at the start but will work to attain that.”

United arrived in Austria in the early hours of yesterday morning for a pre-season tour that includes a friendly against Rapid Vienna tomorrow.

But Houston insists much-needed match practice is about fine tuning his side rather than focusing on results.

He said: “We’ve brought 22 players and I’m looking to give them all 45 minutes. All I’ll be asking from them is that in the 45 minutes they play, they bust a gut.”

Houston is determined his players will be up to speed when they go into Europa League action at the start of next month.

He added: “The boys have put a lot of hard work in already. The biggest thing for me when they’re putting in such a shift is they don’t pick up any injuries.

“The new boys have done well and their attitude has been great.

“We don’t want prima donnas. They have to work their socks off and they have done.

“That’s important to me. When you don’t play well, if you dig in you can still pick up the right result.”